WHAT BASIS PROJECT IS

Basis is a 2d animation program designed to ease the workflow and productivity of video game animators. Sprite art, skeletal animation, and even whole worlds can be built and brought to life.

We have made incredible progress very fast, and hope to continue at this rate until it is fully featured and stable.
This kickstarter will simply decide how far we can go developing as a part or full time job, before we have to turn it into a side project only getting a few lucky hours a week again.
This will depend entirely on the amount of funding we get. (Note this is said in the "risks and challenges" section, but it was suggested we put it here, too, so people don't get the wrong impression about our motivation for funding.)

WHY USE BASIS?

Our intention is to create a powerful animation tool that is capable of handling many types of animation design. This has been a project in development for over 2 1/2 years now and our goal is for the workflow to be efficient and the usage to be limitless. But we want you to be the final judge so try it out for yourself!

WHAT MAKES BASIS DIFFERENT

When Basis began, there were no other accessible 2d skeletal animation programs. What did exist was crude and incomplete, and "bare bones". During development, a couple other awesome animation programs were released which finally filled that niche, (or potentially may in one case). To be honest, if either was out 2 1/2 years ago I don't think Basis would have ever started.

Yet, these have helped inspire us to continue development and take our animation program to the next levels of high performance and usability. We have developed a very open workflow to make the entire animation process even easier for everyone, and a simple yet effective interface that both beginner and professional can use to start creating animations that connect with their video games with quality and ease.

We believe we have solutions for some animation problems that are not solved in most available 2d software (tails/bends, repeat command on all keyframes, texture autodetect, to name a few), and we realized early on that these same tools can benefit pixel art animation, skeletal animation, and even level design and animation.

FOR BONES, SPRITES AND... LEVEL DESIGN?

That's right! Basis is designed to be used for all kinds of art content pipelines such as skeletal animation or traditional animated sprite design. And don't forget level design! We are actively working on tools to bring your characters, worlds, and other creations to life!

IT'S FREE

Yes! Basis is going to be a free to use animation program. We want to give it to you and make it available for everyone, from the hobbyist to the full time professional.

WHY ARE WE ASKING FOR YOUR HELP?

We fully intend to complete Basis for release regardless. That being said, Basis has become a huge project to undergo and it is basically another job on top of our current employment. We are asking for help so that we can continue to focus on its release without sacrificing the current rate of progress (as well as get input and inspiration from the community).

MAIN FEATURES OF BASIS

IK (Inverse Kinematics) - IK simplifies the animating process by allowing you to move unlimited chains and hierarchies of bones together, including locking position of any connected bones. This creates natural movements and a more efficient workflow for your animations.

IK example

Z-ORDER ANIMATION - Z-Order allows you to layer your selected images permanently or to change the order between animations so that an image may appear to be in front and then behind at different points of the animation.

Z-Order example

BACKGROUND MODE - Background mode allows you to preset an image in the background so that when you are in build mode you can trace on a completed image for accuracy and efficiency.

Background mode example

EXTENDED TIMELINE - The Extended Timeline is used to visualize the entire animation on a per-bone basis, allowing you to edit the between-frame interpolation curves, as well as the timing per-bone. Bones can have different numbers of key frames, so they are not dependent on one another.

Extended Timeline example

REPEAT FUNCTION - The Repeat function will save an incredible amount of time and tedious work. Any action which you make can be repeated on all other key frames or even all animations. If your entire animation was a little off, or you forgot to add something, or you need any other tweaks or changes to your animation, you only have to do it once, then "Repeat".

Repeat function example

TAIL MODE - Tail mode is an awesome new tool that allows you to not have to create separate images and bones to try and make a realistic looking animation on pieces like tails or even articles of clothing. You take one image and one bone, turn it to tail mode and it will allow you to flex and bend the image to give you a much more natural and lifelike animation.

Tail mode example

ATTACHMENT BONES - Attachment bones have multiple purposes. One is to connect 2 (or more) images and it will appear and act as 1 image but you still have the freedom to layer and separate in other animations or key frames. They can be used in-game to dynamically attach objects and accessories to your animation. Another purpose during the animation process would be to, say, attach wings to a main skeleton, without the wings' bases being easily movable.

Attachment bones example

COLLISION DETECTION - Collision detection is really going to allow your animation to "feel" other animations and/or environments. For example: by selecting a certain piece or image at a time in the animation, you can change its state to a "Hot" or "Normal" state, and if the Hot state comes into contact with another type, it will allow for animation changes, reactions, or any other possibilities.

Collision detection example

AUTO DETECTION AND TEXTURE PACKING - Auto detection and texture packing allow you to upload your work into Basis and it will automatically detect your separate images and allow you to skip the step of manually having to do this yourself. Basis also features texture packing of any textures and separate images together to 1 or more pages of packed textures, saving on image size, ram usage, gpu context switches, file fragmentation, etc.

Auto detection example

Texture packing example

TILING - Tiling is a feature helpful to level design. It allows you to take one image and "tile" it at any orientation or scale, so that you can create giant backgrounds, consistent worlds, etc.

WHAT ARE BONES AND SPRITES T-SHIRTS?

Bones> T-shirt

Sprites> T-shirt

Risks and challenges

Honestly, we fully intend to implement all features mentioned eventually. This kickstarter will simply decide how far we can go developing as a part or full time job, before we have to turn it into a side project that gets a few lucky hours a week again.

The core of Basis has been revised three times now to get it to the point where we are at. Many times in the last 2 1/2 years it has been a side project with very slow development. During the last 3 months we have made incredible progress at amazing speed, and would like to continue at this pace until it is fully featured and stable.

I suppose the only real challenge we will face after funding will depend on the amount of funding we get. For any stretch goals not reached, it will definitely be challenging to complete those remaining features without spending another whole year on it all.

$10 reward

$25 reward

(1) Access to influential voting polls
(2) Special thanks mentioned in software
(3) ** Beta access and feedback prior to each public release

Estimated delivery:Aug 2013

You selected

$55 reward

1 backer

(1) Access to influential voting polls
(2) Special thanks mentioned in software
(3) Beta access and feedback prior to each public release
(4) ** Create your custom character art pack that includes tons of variations for character design

Estimated delivery:Aug 2013

You selected

$85 reward

1 backer

(1) Access to influential voting polls
(2) Special thanks mentioned in software
(3) Beta access and feedback prior to each public release
(4) Create your custom character art pack that includes tons of variations for character design
(5) ** Your choice between a Bones > T-shirt or Sprites > T-shirt (located at the bottom of the Kickstarter page)

Estimated delivery:Sep 2013

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

$165 reward

2 backers
Limited (18 left of 20)

(1) Access to influential voting polls
(2) Special thanks mentioned in software
(3) Beta access and feedback prior to each public release
(4) Create your custom character art pack that includes tons of variations for character design
(5) Your choice between a Bones > or Sprites > T-shirt (located at the bottom of the Kickstarter page)
(6) ** Contribute an example to be included with Basis. Suggestion: Include project notes with contact information, company name, or some form of a personal profile.

Estimated delivery:Sep 2013

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

$250 reward

0 backers

(1) Access to influential voting polls
(2) Special thanks mentioned in software
(3) Beta access and feedback prior to each public release
(4) Create your custom character art pack that includes tons of variations for character design
(5) Your choice between a Bones > or Sprites > T-shirt (located at the bottom of the Kickstarter page)
(6) ** 1 year priority advanced technical support (special pricing only available during kickstarter)

Estimated delivery:Sep 2013

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

$1,500 reward

0 backers
Limited (8 left of 8)

(1) Access to influential voting polls
(2) Special thanks mentioned in software
(3) Beta access and feedback prior to each public release
(4) Create your custom character art pack that includes tons of variations for character design
(5) Your choice between a Bones > or Sprites > T-shirt (located at the bottom of the Kickstarter page)
(6) 1 year priority advanced technical support
(7) ** Exclusive access and input during live design meetings

Estimated delivery:Sep 2013

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

$4,000 reward

0 backers

(1) Access to influential voting polls
(2) Special thanks mentioned in software
(3) Beta access and feedback prior to each public release
(4) Create your custom character art pack that includes tons of variations for character design
(5) Your choice between a Bones > or Sprites > T-shirt (located at the bottom of the Kickstarter page)
(6) Priority advanced technical support
(7) ** Implement your requested feature or runtime/plugin as a top priority. We will cater to you :)

Estimated delivery:Oct 2013

Ships anywhere in the world

Funding period

Jul 9, 2013 - Aug 8, 2013
(30 days)

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